The present invention relates to vanes and vane assemblies for use with gas turbine engines.
Known vane (or stator) assemblies, such as low pressure compressor (LPC) exit guide vane assemblies for gas turbine engines, often include an inner shroud ring, and outer shroud ring, and a plurality of vane details having airfoils that bridge an annular gap between the inner and outer shroud rings in a cascade configuration. In some designs, an inner end of each vane detail includes a platform that is riveted to the inner shroud ring. An outer end of each vane detail lacks a platform like the inner end, but instead has a “free” end that is potted within an opening in the outer shroud using a “slug” of conformable material (e.g., rubber, etc.). Potting the outer ends of the vane details facilitates assembly processes, and provides a damping effect during engine operation. Clips or other retainers are sometimes also used to retain the potted ends of the vane details relative to a shroud. The riveted connection is often located at the inner shroud ring and the potted connection at the outer shroud ring, because some engine designs provide a more secure and desirable mounting arrangement relative to the engine structural frame at the inner shroud location.
However, the amount of space available for securing the platforms of the vane details is limited, particularly at the inner shroud. In order to provide large numbers of vane details, that is, to provide a high vane count, the vane detail platforms have been positioned next to each other in close proximity in a nested configuration. Yet, there are still limits on how closely adjacent vane platforms can be positioned before interfering with each other and raising problems with structural integrity. For instance, there are generally minimum requirements for a distance provided between rivets and an adjacent edge of a riveted part to maintain structural integrity during engine assembly and operation. In short, known nested designs are not readily scaled to allow any number of vanes within a given vane assembly in an engine, but rather face maximum vane count limits.
The present invention provides an alternative vane and vane assembly configuration that allows for relatively high vane counts.